Why Women Should Lift Weights - Women Do Need Strength

Over the last decade, researchers have made extremely compelling arguments for the benefits of weight training for women and those over the age of 50. Still, the number of women who take this recommendation to heart is still quite low. Most women who exercise are spending most of their gym time on cardiovascular exercise. Whatever your reasons for avoiding the weights, if you are a woman, here are reasons why you need to take strength training seriously.

1. You Will Be Physically Stronger.
   Increasing your strength will make you far less dependent upon others for assistance in daily living. Chores will be easier; lifting kids, groceries and laundry will no longer push you to the max. If your maximum strength is increased, daily tasks and routine exercise will be far less likely to cause injury. Research studies conclude that even moderate weight training can increase a woman's strength by 30 to 50 percent. Research also shows that women can develop their strength at the same rate as men.
   
   
2. You Will Lose Body Fat.
   Studies performed by Wayne Westcott, PhD, from the South Shore YMCA in Quincy, Massachusetts, found that the average woman who strength trains two to three times a week for two months will gain nearly two pounds of muscle and will lose 3.5 pounds of fat. As your lean muscle increases so does your resting metabolism, and you burn more calories all day long. Generally speaking, for each pound of muscle you gain, you burn 35 to 50 more calories each day. That can really add up.
   
   
3. You Will Gain Strength Without Bulk.
   Researchers also found that unlike men, women typically don't gain size from strength training, because compared to men, women have 10 to 30 times less of the hormones that cause muscle hypertrophy. You will, however, develop muscle tone and definition. This is a bonus.
   
4. You Decrease Your Risk Of Osteoporosis.
   Research has found that weight training can increase spinal bone mineral density (and enhance bone modelling) by 13 percent in six months. This, coupled with an adequate amount of dietary calcium, can be a women's best defence against osteoporosis.
   
   
5. You Will Improve Your Athletic Performance.
   Over and over research concludes that strength training improves athletic ability in all but the very elite athletes. Golfers can significantly increase their driving power. Cyclists are able to continue for longer periods of time with less fatigue. Skiers improve technique and reduce injury. Whatever sport you play, strength training has been shown to improve overall performance as well as decrease the risk of injury.
   
   
6. You Will Reduce Your Risk Of Injury, Back Pain and Arthritis.
   Strength training not only builds stronger muscles, but also builds stronger connective tissues and increases joint stability. This acts as reinforcement for the joints and helps prevent injury. A recent 12-year study showed that strengthening the low-back muscles had an 80 percent success rate in eliminating or alleviating low-back pain. Other studies have indicated that weight training can ease the pain of and strengthen joints.
   
   
7. You Will Reduce Your Risk of Heart Disease.
   According to Dr. Barry A. Franklin, of William Beaumont Hospital in Royal Oak, Michigan, weight training can improve cardiovascular health in several ways, including lowering LDL ("bad") cholesterol, increasing HDL ("good") cholesterol and lowering blood pressure. When cardiovascular exercise is added, these benefits are maximized.
   
   
8. You Will Reduce Your Risk of Diabetes.
   In addition, Dr. Franklin noted that weight training may improve the way the body processes sugar, which may reduce the risk of diabetes. Adult-onset diabetes is a growing problem for women and men. Research indicates that weight training can increase glucose utilization in the body by 23 percent in four months.
   
   
9. It Is Never Too Late To Benefit.
   Women in their 70s and 80s have built up significant strength through weight training and studies show that strength improvements are possible at any age. Note, however, that a strength training professional should always supervise older participants.
   
   
10. You Will Improve Your Attitude And Fight Depression.
    A Harvard study found that 10 weeks of strength training reduced clinical depression symptoms more successfully than standard counselling did. Women who strength train commonly report feeling more confident and capable as a result of their program, all important factors in fighting depression.

Strength Training Benefits for Women*

• Enhanced bone modelling to increase bone strength and reduce the risk of osteoporosis
• Stronger connective tissues to increase joint stability and help prevent injury
• Increased functional strength for sports and daily activity
• Increased lean body mass and decreased non-functional body fat
• Higher metabolic rate because of an increase in muscle and a decrease in fat
• Improved self-esteem and confidence

  Bone and soft tissue. Women, more than men, need to meet the minimal essential strain required for bone modelling to occur and ultimately for reducing the risk of osteoporosis. Prevention of osteoporosis requires above-normal axial skeletal loading (7,8). The strain tolerance for skeletal bone is believed to be more than 10 times the typical load that humans bear in daily activities (9). Since bone modelling is proportional to the degree of overload (the amount of stress applied beyond the normal load), the greater the overload--within limits--the greater the amount of bone modelling. Bone modelling helps prevent fractures and insure against osteoporosis.

  Cartilage, tendons, and ligaments also have minimal essential strain requirements. Optimal strength development requires loads and intensities that progressively increase the training stimulus or stress. Strong cartilage, tendons, and ligaments are essential for joint integrity, stability, and injury prevention.

  Lean body mass and fat. Strength training also increases lean body mass and decreases fat; this results in less non-functional fat to carry and a greater proportion of lean body mass, which can provide functional strength. Compared to fat, muscle is metabolically active and increases metabolic rate, fat oxidation, and calorie consumption. Increased muscle mass and muscle cross-sectional area also correlate with increased strength. Participation in "functional" strength training exercises will develop functional strength and most likely improve performance, whether it is an increased ability to spike a volleyball or pick up a child.

  Psychological well-being. Finally, studies (3) suggest that women who engage in strength training benefit from improved self-esteem. Female athletes appear to be able to balance strength and femininity; according to one survey, 94% of the participants reported that athletic participation did not lead them to feel less feminine. Strength training also appears to give women a sense of personal power, especially for women who have been raped or abused.

  Such psychological benefits arise from the physiologic changes that occur as a result of strength training and from the process of encountering and mastering physical challenges. Thus, both the process and the outcome of strength training benefit women (3).

Dispelling Misconceptions

Recent studies counter several widely held beliefs that may limit the physiologic and psychological benefits of weight training for women.

Myth 1: Strength training causes women to become larger and heavier. The truth is, strength training helps reduce body fat and increase lean weight (1). These changes may result in a slight increase in overall weight, since lean body mass weighs more than fat. However, strength training results in significant increases in strength, no change or a decrease in lower-body girths, and a very small increase in upper-extremity girth. Only women with a genetic predisposition for hypertrophy who participate in high-volume, high-intensity training will see substantial increases in limb circumference.

Myth 2: Women should use different training methods than men. Women are often encouraged to use weight machines and slow, controlled movements out of a fear that using free weights, manual resistance, explosiveness (high velocity, low force), or exercises that use body weight as resistance will cause injury.  In fact, no evidence suggests that women are more likely to be injured during strength training than men. Proper exercise instruction and technique are necessary to reduce the risk of injuries for both men and women. All strength training participants should follow a program that gradually increases the intensity and load.

Myth 3: Women should avoid high-intensity or high-load training. Women are encouraged to use limited resistance, such as light dumbbells, in their strength exercises. Often such light training loads are substantially below those necessary for physiologic adaptations and certainly less than those commonly used by men. Most women are able to train at higher volumes and intensities than previously believed. In fact, women need to train at intensities high enough to cause adaptation in bone, muscle, cartilage, ligaments, and tendons. When exercise intensity provides insufficient stimulus, physiologic benefits may be minimal. To gain maximum benefit from strength training, women should occasionally perform their exercises at or near the repetition maximum for each exercise.

References

1. Fox E, Bowers R, Foss M: The Physiological Basis for Exercise and Sport, Madison, WI, Brown and Benchmark, 1993
2. Stone MH, Borden RA: Modes and methods of resistance training. Strength Conditioning 1997;19(4):18-24

National Strength and Conditioning Association: Position Paper: Strength Training for Female Athletes. National Strength and Conditioning Association, Colorado Springs, 1990